Only Jesus Is Lord!

When the calls come for the Church and her people to serve the glory and power of nation or party, the Church must answer with a resounding, “No! Only Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

The Confessing Church in Germany (1934 ff) understood and articulated this well in the Theological Declaration of Barmen. It did not specifically address all of the evils of the Nazi regime or offer resistance in a specifically political sense. Rather, they rejected as false doctrine that the Church become an organ of the State. The effect of this was that congregations and individual Christians chose whether to identify themselves as “German Christians” or “Confessing Christians.”

In the current political environment of the United States, especially among those who object to some of the policies of President Trump and the Republican Party, various comparisons are made to the situation in Nazi Germany. My own opinion is that this alienates people and truncates genuine dialog. I believe it also leads to seeing false parallels and missing more fundamental issues of our time.

Since exploring the Confessing Church and its theologians when I was at Wheaton Graduate School (69-72), I have found the Theological Declaration of Barmen to be profoundly relevant and beneficial. I sense (and hope I am wrong), that the Church (full spectrum of those who trust and follow Jesus – not any one manifestation) in the United States today may be facing a similar call to choose that prompted the founding of the Confessing Church 84 years ago. Voices from several quarters seem to be calling the Church and individual Christians to serve the nation and political ideology undermining the Lordship of Jesus even as it gives him lip service. I am concerned that the Church in the United States may become divided as were the “German Christians” and “Confessing Church,” leaving most who just want to live a simple faith in Jesus and follow him daily, confused and torn as leaders they have respected advocate for competing loyalties.

Yes, the Theological Declaration of Barmen was forged in a particularly fierce furnace, but it speaks profoundly to us today. It interprets the historic challenges of Christendom to authentic Christian faith and discipleship. I am convinced it will speak relevantly to many generations who will come after us. I continue to urge its study and dialog, not as a critique of fickle political policies that will come and go and be shaped by events and reality, but as an incisive prompting to probe the profound issues of the fidelity of the Church in our day to only Jesus as Lord.

http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/barmen.htm

Romans 10.9:

If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

1 Corinthians 12.3:

Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says “Let Jesus be cursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit.

Philippians 2.11:

Every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.